A Case of Bad Luck
by roguewarrior73
Summary: The brothers stop for a bite to eat but it suddenly turns south for Sam.
1. Chapter 1

1It had been due to Dean's insistence that they had stopped at McGregor's Fine Irish Seafood House.

"Come on, Dude. I'm not missing out on all-you-can-eat clam night!"

Two hours had passed since then and while Sam was himself pleasantly full, he never stopped being amazed at just how much food his bottomless pit of a brother could put away. Dean was indulging his other appetite too, hitting on not one but two pretty blondes at the bar. Just as an abdominal pain was starting to give Sam the idea that eating here had not been a good idea, Dean came back to their table.

"Oh man! Do you see those two! Tonight is our lucky night!"

"I'll pass"

"Are you nuts?"

" Nah, I'm just not feeling right. I think the clams may have been bad."

"I feel fine."

"'Course you do. I'm just going to walk back to the motel and call it a night."

"Fine. I'll just have to take care of the Barbie twins myself." Dean flashed a mischievous grin to Sam as he headed back to the girls.

Sam walked back to the motel feeling suddenly bone tired and more than a tad queasy. Once inside he removed his jacket and carelessly flung it onto the chair in the corner. With a heavy sigh, he flopped across the bed and fell into a restless sleep.

Four hours later, Sam woke up feverish, nauseous, and with an increased pain in his belly. There was one thought in his head. Get to the bathroom NOW! He lurched to his feet and nearly doubled over in pain. He dragged himself into the gaudy pink bathroom just in time to vomit every single half digested clam he had eaten. After wiping the spittle from his lips with a wad of toilet paper and giving the toilet a good flush, he wearily sat down on the floor. Lacking the energy to get up, he slid over until his feverish head was pressed against the cool tile of the floor. _That feels better._ With that he fell asleep.

* * *

The sun was coming up when Dean sauntered back into their motel room with the look of a cat that had eaten the canary on his face. He noticed that Sam was not in his bed.

"Must've went to get coffee. That'll give me time to get a quick shower."

He pulled out some clean cloths and headed toward the bathroom. He went to push open the door but was stopped short when the door barely moved then hit a large object.

"Ooaw!"

"Sam?"

"Wah?"

"Sam, are you hurt?"

"Don't feel good."

"Can you move away from the door and let me in?"

After a long pause, just as Dean was contemplating going outside and breaking in the bathroom window to get to his brother, there was a shuffling on the other side of the door then it swung open. He quickly threw an arm under Sam's arm and around his shoulders to lend support to Sam who was doing his best impression of a tree about to go down in the forest.

"You look like shit."

"Feel worse."

"Let's get you over to your bed."

After helping Sam get over to his bed and seeing him grimace and hold an arm protectively around his side, he asked, "What's wrong, Sammy?"

"Don't know. I'm hot and nauseous and my stomach hurts more now than before I threw up."

Dean touched the back of his hand to Sam's forehead and his own wrinkled with concern. " I think it's time for a trip to the ER."

"No."

"Look I know you hate hospitals, but you can't walk on your own and your pain is getting worse instead of better."

He was going to resist again but the concerned look on Dean's face silenced the objection. "Sure, OK. I want to change my shirt first though. This one stinks!"

"All right."

Dean grabbed a clean t-shirt and turned around to see Sam struggling to get out of the dirty one as he favored his right side.

"Let me help you."

"Fine."

With that Dean gently pulled the dirty shirt up over Sam's head and replaced it with a clean one, reminiscent of when they were little. Once that was done, he helped Sam into his coat then Dean guided his "little" brother into the Impala and they headed to the ER.

* * *

After breaking a land speed record, the Impala came to a screeching halt outside of the local ER. Dean was ready for an argument when he stated, "I'll be back in a minute with a wheelchair. Wait here." When all he got was a shrug and a "fine", he worried more.

Dean hustled into the waiting room, grabbed a wheelchair, and hurried back to the car and his waiting brother. Once there, he swung open the passenger side door and helped Sam get out of the car and into the chair. He then maneuvered them into the waiting room and up to the front desk. The receptionist lifted her gaze and met Dean's worried expression.

"How may I help you?"

"It's my brother here. We thought he had something bad to eat last night but now we're not sure."

While he was speaking, the woman was looking past him at Sam.

"What's the patient's name?"

"Sam Winston."

"OK, fill out these forms and take a seat over there. Someone will be out to get your brother soon."

Dean was gearing up for another fight, about to tell the woman behind the desk what she could do with the paperwork, when a pretty young nurse came out to the desk, denying him his verbal battle for the second time that day by saying to Sam, "Hi I'm Jenny. I'll take you back."

Having seen the worried crease in Dean's brow, Sam was quick to

offer reassurance even if he himself didn't feel it. "You stay here and fill out the paperwork. I'll be fine."

"No way. I'm coming with you."

"Is that OK with you?" Jenny asked Sam.

"Whatever."

With that they went behind the heavy doors and into a cramped exam room that smelled strongly of disinfectant. After helping Sam onto the exam table, Dean watched as the nurse took Sam's temperature, blood pressure, and asked how he was feeling.

"Nauseous, cold, and my stomach is killing me."

"OK, you are running a fever so that could be why you feel cold. I need you to put on a gown and then the doctor will be in to see you. Do you want me to help?"

Seeing Sam's already flushed cheeks go a shade darker at the thought of having this woman help him undress made Dean smirk, but he quickly intervened.

"I can help him."

" All right then. I'll leave you to it and the doctor will be in soon."

After the nurse left, Sam started to sit up but the pain in his belly quickly stopped him and he lay back down. Seeing this worried Dean but he downplayed it, going over to help Sam.

"Hey, I think she wants you."

"What are you talking about?"

"She wanted to get you out of your cloths."

"That's part of her job."

"I'm telling you, she looked upset that I was here to help you."

"Whatever."

By the time this exchange was over, Dean had helped Sam out of his shirt.

"Come on, lean on me."

"This is so embarrassing." Sam stood, leaning his weight on his brother with one arm while undoing his fly with the other hand and wiggling out of his jeans. He got into the blue hospital gown, making sure the opening was on the backside then he took off his nderwear. Sam winced again as he got back on the exam table.

Just as Dean was going to comment, the door opened and in walked a middle-aged man in scrubs.

"Hi, Mr. Winston. I'm Dr. White," he said, extending his hand to Sam first. "And you are?"

"I'm his brother, Dean."

The doctor then shook Dean's hand.

"Tell me what brings you here," he said with his head in the chart.

After recounting his symptoms for what felt like the millionth time, Sam waited for the doctor to respond.

"Well, you did the right thing by coming in. Let me take a look at your abdomen."

With that Sam rested back on the table and the doctor started pressing his hands into various spots asking if it hurt. Sam answered no to all, except when the doctor pressed on the lower right side.

"Ouch!"

" All right. It seems that you have an acute appendicitis, Mr. Winston. We'll have to take you to surgery now and remove it. Do you have any questions?"

"Wait. Is that really necessary?"

"If we wait, your appendix could rupture and you could die. If we do the surgery now you should be good as new in a couple of weeks."

At the word die, Dean had felt his gut clench.

"What are we waiting for then? Doc, you get in there and fix him."

"I'll do that, Mr. Winston. I'll leave you to say your goodbyes." With that he was out the door.

Having seen his brother's clenched jaw , Sam attempted to hide his own fears.

"I'll be fine, Dean."

"Damn right you will, or I'll kick your ass."

"I know," Sam said with a small smile.

Just then the orderlies came in and wheeled Sam out of the room. Dean followed behind feeling helpless as they wheeled Sammy down the hall and through the doors marked OR - Do Not Enter.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

It was with great reluctance that Dean turned his back on the doors through which Sam had vanished. He turned and made his way back out to the waiting room. Just as he sat down there was a page on the intercom.

"Will the owner of a black Chevy Impala license plate KAZ 2Y please move your car from the Emergency Room entrance immediately? It's in a tow away zone."

"Damn"

He hustled out to the car before something could happen to anything else he cared about. He slid behind the wheel and maneuvered the car through the parking lot and into a secluded spot in the far corner away from traffic. After putting the car in park he gently patted the steering wheel.

"There you go baby."

He got out of the car and headed back into the hospital.

Just as he came through the doors the receptionist looked up and caught his eye.

"Excuse me. Mr. Winstin have you finished filling out your brother's admission forms?"

"Nah, I'll do them right now."

"Okay, just bring them back to me when you're done."

Dean headed over to a solitary chair in the corner and went to work filling in the forms using the information off of Mr. Sam Winston's insurance card. The busy helped to take his mind off what was going on in the OR.

When he was finished with the forms and had given them over to the receptionist whom had smiled politely at him, he decided to check-in with Bobby.

He dialed the number and waited.

"What?"

"Bobby, Sam's in the hospital. If anything happens to him it's all my fault."

"Why would you say that?"

"I dragged him to the bar and left him alone all night because I thought he just had a weak stomach. By the time I found him he was weak and feverish and now he's in surgery."

"Surgery! What's wrong with him?"

"He's having an appendectomy."

"Well, now I'm sure that's not your fault and you know that you've done everything you could do by getting him to the hospital when you did. Am I right?"

"I guess."

"Well the best thing you can do for Sam now is to take care of yourself. Have you eaten?"

"Not in awhile."

"Well go put some food in your gut and try to get some rest. You hear me, boy?"

"Yes sir."

"Dean keep me up-to-date with what's going on."

"Sure, Bobby."

With that Dean put away his cell phone and thought about what to eat even though he didn't want to because he knew Bobby was right and he had to be ready for when Sam needed him. Well leaving the hospital was out of the question that left the cafeteria or the vending machines. He opted for the vending machines because they were just around the corner from the waiting room.

When he got there his mind wandered off to his conversation with Bobby about how it wasn't his fault that his brother had almost died. He thought about his insistence on stopping to eat clams then how he had ignored Sam's pain because he was hot to trot. Finally, he thought about how he had been out all night while Sam could have been dying on the bathroom floor.

" Dam it, Sammy you have to be alright."

A tug on his sleeve pulled him out of his trance.

"Mister, are you okay?'

"Dean looked down into the face of a boy about 8 years old."

"Ah Yeah. Why?"

"Cause you look sad. "

"Why do you say that."

"Because you're crying and I cry when I'm sad so you must be sad."

"Well I guess maybe I am." Dean's hand brushed away the single tear that had escaped and run down his cheek.

"Who's Sammy?'

"My little brother."

"Is he sick? My little brother's sick."

"Yeah. What's his name?"

"Timmy. Mine's Tommy." The little boy extended his right hand.

"Well Hi Tommy I'm Dean." Dean shook the little hand which was engulfed by his much larger one and flashed the boy a grin.

Just then a pretty but anxious looking woman came around the corner.

"There you are, Tommy. What have I told you about talking to strangers."

"But we're not strangers Mom. This is Dean."

"Nice to meet you Mame." Dean extended his hand and smiled pleasantly at the woman.

"Nice to meet you." I'm sorry if Tommy has been bothering you. He's a bit outgoing."

"Not at all. We've become fast friends."

"Come on Tommy we've got to go they're going to let us see Timmy now."

"Okay. Bye, Dean. I hope Sammy's Okay."

"Bye, Tommy. Good Luck with Timmy."

With that mother and son were gone and Dean turned back to the vending machines. As he made his purchases of a bag of nuts and a cola he hoped that both Timmy and Sammy would be fine.


	3. Chapter 3

While he waited for news about Sam, Dean dreamed.

"_Come on Dean. Hurry up."_

"_In a minute. What are you in such a rush for?"_

"_I got to get to school early today. We've got a field trip to the Science Museum today."_

" _Sounds like a snooze fest to me." He said with a yawn._

"_Na it's really cool. You can do real experiments there." Sammy grinned._

"_Like I said. But whatever floats your boat Sammy."_

"_There's only one problem."_

"_What's that?"_

"_I'm supposed to have dad's signature on this permission slip." Sam's face lost the grin as he pulled out the piece of paper and showed his brother._

"_That's not a problem." Dean snatched the form and scribbled his well-practiced forgery of there often absent father's signature. He handed it back to his younger brother who grinned back._

"_Thanks."_

"_Anything for you egghead."_

Dean woke with a start as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Excuse me Mr. Winstin."

It was Sammy's doctor, Dr. White. Dean blinked and quickly rubbed his eyes to clear away the last traces of slumber.

"Yeah. How is he Doc?"

"Your brother is very lucky. We were able to get in there and remove his appendix before it ruptured. He is in recovery now."

"When can I see him?"

"Shortly. He will be moved to a room soon. I just want to let you know that he will be with us for a few days and then if everything goes well he can go home with you but he'll need to take it easy for the next few weeks. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, sure thing Doc. I'll make sure he takes care of himself."

"OK Mr. Winstin. I'll see you tomorrow morning when I look in on your brother."

"Sure. Thanks Doc."

Dean stretched his muscles that were sore from sleeping in the cramped lounge chair. Then he headed to the front desk to find out what room his brother would be in.

When he got there he found a pleasant looking older woman of about 50 years old sitting behind the desk. She raised her head and smiled warmly at him as he approached.

"Excuse me Ma'am."

"How can I help you?"

"Can you tell me what room brother Sam Winstin is in? He just got out of surgery."

"Just a minute."

She turned her gaze to her computer screen and after a minute of typing and with several clicks of her mouse she found it. She raised her head and met Dean's gaze.

"Here it is. Sam Winstin is in room 311. Do you know how to get there?"

"Ah no Ma'am."

"Take the elevator over there to the third floor and follow the signs to the room."

"Thank you."

"Your welcome."

With that Dean made his way over to the elevator that the receptionist had indicated. He pressed the button and waited. Luckily for him the hospital was quiet at this time and it wasn't too long before he heard the "_ding_" signaling that the car was there just before the doors opened. He was greeted with an empty car which he entered and quickly punched the button for the third floor. He groaned as he was greeted by the lyrical sounds of Kenny G. Why they couldn't play good music in elevators he'd never understand. He got off and thought he had entered another world.

A cheery giraffe that had a bandage around its leg greeted him. The walls were covered with circus wallpaper. Dean knew this was meant to be cheery but it came across as creepy to him. The sign on the wall read 3rd floor Pediatrics.

"What the hell."

Assuming that the receptionist had made a mistake he walked down the hall in search of the nurses' station. Once there he found a pleasant looking middle-aged woman behind the desk. She raised her head and asked.

"How may I help you?"

"I'm looking for my brother but I think there's been a mistake."

"Why is that?"

"Well he doesn't exactly belong on this floor. He's not a kid."

" I see well let's check the system. What's his name?"

"Sam Winstin."

"Here it is. Sam Winstin is in room 311. Here's a note saying they are moving him here due to a lack of beds."

"Is that kosher?"

"Don't worry Mr. Winstin. We're quiet capable of taking care of all patients here no matter what their age. Would you like me to show you to your brother's room? They should be bringing him up soon."

"Thanks"

With that she came from behind the desk and lead Dean down the cheery hallway. She pointed to the vending machines as they passed by them.

"In case you need a pick me up."

"How'd you guess?"

"I see a lot of weary parents here, son. Here we are room 311."

She walked into the room ahead of Dean and showed him where Sam would be.

"You'll have the room to yourselves for now."

She caught the look on Dean's face and asked.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just the wallpaper in here."

"What about the wallpaper?"

"Well you see Sammy doesn't really like clowns."

"I see."

She nodded her head with understanding.

"Don't worry Mr. Winstin. He won't be the first scared kid I've dealt with. I'll leave you now but my name's May if you need anything just ask."

"Thanks, May and it's Dean by the way."

"Nice to meet you Dean."

With that she turned and left him alone in the room full of grinning clowns.

He left the room and went to the vending machine. Coffee and a lot of it was what he needed. While he was there he decided to update Bobby.

When he got back to the room a few minutes later he found the orderlies coming out of the room laughing quietly to each other.

"What's so funny?"

Looking at him sheepishly one responded.

"Sorry it's just that with how big he is it looks funny seeing him in that room full of clowns. No offense."

"Whatever"

He hurried into the room forgetting everything else once he saw Sammy in that bed. He went and pulled a chair close so that he could sit and hold his brother's hand and watch his breathing.

"It's good to see you Bro. You rest now. I've got your back."

With that Dean settled back slightly in his chair, picked up his coffee and took a big swig, preparing for the long night ahead.


End file.
